Propelling apparatus for boats.



I No. 685,437. Patented Oct. 29, MM.

0. R. SHEEN.

PR OPELLING APPARATUS FOR BOATS.

(Application filed Apn 5 190L] 2 $heetsSheet I.

(No Model.)

mrn Va NR 1 .W m D.

m: Nomus PKTERS 60., mom-\J no,v wqsnmoton. u. c.

No. 685,437. Pat ented Oct. 29, I90l.

D. n. SHEEN. v PRUPELLING APPARATUS FOR BOATS.

(Ap plica tion fijed Apr. 5. 1901.

2 Sheeis-Sheet '2 (.No Model.)

' QENVENTEH Dcmlfil .Rgham 35 Jim Mar/W) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL R. SHEEN, OF P EORIA, ILLINOIS.

PROPELLING APPARATUS FOR BOATS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 685,437, dated O o 29, 1901.

Application filed April 5, 1901.

To all whom it may concern.-

Beitknown that I, DANIEL R. SHEnN',acitizen of the United States, residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Propelling Apparatus for Boats; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention pertains to an improved means for propelling boats, and is intended as an improvement over two patents 011 bowfacing oars issued to me on March 27, 1900, and August 14, 1900, and bearing the numbers 646,041 and 655,742, respectively.

The object of the invention is to simplify devices of this character and to make them easier to manipulate and'certain in operation.

A further object is to arrange the oars or paddles so as to cause them to pass lengthwise through the air during the back stroke in order that the air-currents will not affect the movement of the boat or make the rowing difficult by impinging upon the fiat blades of said paddles.

Furthermore, an object is to provide a bal- I anced paddle for the above purposes.

Still another object of my invention is to combine with the rowingapparatus a detachable support and clamp, all of which will be described fully hereinafter.

In the drawings accompanying this application, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved rowing mechanism as applied to a boat. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof in a slightly-different position. Fig. 3 is also a side view showing another position of the same device. Fig. 4 is a front view of the invention attached to a boat. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of means of supporting the rowing mechanism upon the side of a boat. Fig. 6 is a side View ofa form of double row ing mechanism.

In the several figures, A indicates the boat, upon which my device is mounted. The means for supporting the arrangement is shown in Figs. 4 and 5 only, being left out of the other figures, so as not to complicate them. This supporting means will be described here- Serial No. 54,433. (No motleld inaft'er,and attention will now be directed to the main features of my invention.

Bis a bearing held within the boat and supporting a horizontal shaft 0, having at its inner end a crank D, which is designed to move back and forth in asemicirele in a path beneath the shaft. At the outer end of the shaft is an arm E, having a sleeve E, secured to such shaft in any good manner. The free end of such arm is bifurcated and pivotally supports a paddle F, which is balanced on said pivotal support by weighting its upper end to equalize'the weight of the paddle end. Adjacent to the sleeve E is a sleeve G, loosely mounted on the shaft. This sleeve carries an arm H and an arm I, the latter having a weight J, which is suspended beneath the shaft in Fig. 1. The arm H is bifurcated similarly to the arm E and pivotally supports the end of a bar or link K, whose other end is pivoted in any good manner to the paddle at L. In Fig. l the device is being viewed from the front of the boat. Consequently the oarsman would be facing the observer and having hold of the crank D in the position shown and is ready to pull the crank toward him or away from the observer to make a stroke for the purpose of propelling the boat forward. The position shown has been attained by a backward movement, and as the crank is carried forward the weight J has raised the paddle clear of the water, and the momentum of said weight in being brought forward carries it beyond the center of gravity, or just beneath the shaft 0; but as the crank comes to a stop in order to reverse its movement the weight falls to the dotted-line position or to the lowest point to which it can fall. This action also moves the arm H with it, the two arms H and I being rigidly attached to the sleeve G in substantially the position and relation shown, and said arm H pulls the link K with it, thereby swinging the paddle on its pivot to the dotted-line position shown, all being accomplished above the surface of the water. Now as the crank is pulled for the stroke the paddle enters the water and the pressure of water against it carries the upper end thereof against the arm E, as shown in Fig. 2. Said arm and the paddle now Ice form a practically rigid member from the shaft 0 down, and the pressure of the water is such during the stroke that the weight J is carried upward by means of the link K and the arm II on the sleeve G until upon reaching the end of the stroke, as in Fig. 3, the pressure of water is lost. At the moment the paddle reaches this position the weight J falls from the dotted-line position to the fullline position, for the reason that there is now no resistance to its descent. In falling the arm II and link K are pushed against the paddle, which, being ovcrbalanced at the upper end by this means, falls and raises the opposite paddle end, thus placing the entire member in a horizontal position, as shown. The movement of the paddle upward, however, is limited by the bifurcated arm which carries it, and the horizontal position is consequently not departed from. As the crank now moves in the opposite direction to gain a new stroke the relation of the paddle to the arm E constantly changes. In Fig. 3 the angle formed by the arm and the upper portion of the paddle is acute, while in Fig. 1 it is obtuse, and evidently a midway position will place these portions at right angles. In any of these positions the weight will still keep the paddle in a horizontal position. The movement of the crank will be such from the end of the stroke to the beginning of the next that the weight will be carried past its lowest point, as before described, and will then fall in the opposite direction to its lowest point to open the paddle, as already described.

In Fig. 6 I have shown my device arranged for two paddles at each side of the boat instead of one. A connecting-link M takes the place of the link K and is attached at each end to one of the paddles. The arm H is slotted at N, and a pin in the said link M operates the paddle by means of the weight J, as described for the single form.

The means of supporting the rowingmechanism may be understood from the following: The horizontal portion of an angle-plate O rests upon the gunwale, and the vertical portion thereof is on the inside of the boat. The outer edge of the horizontal portion carries a leaf P by means of hinges Q. A cam R is carried on the top of the said plate and arranged whereby when it is in the position shown the said leaf P will be thrown under the molding of the gunwale and clamp the support firmly to the boat. The inside of the vertical member carries a number of points S, which are naturally forced into the wood when the clamp grasps the gunwale, as will be understood. In the top of the support are apertures for receiving the arms of the hearing B of the rowing mechanism, and clamping-screws T in the said vertical member serve to clamp the said arms to prevent movement thereof, and by this means any elevation of the rowing device may be had.

It will be readily understood that the rowing device must be arranged whereby it is prevented having a swinging movement on the boat. ThereforeI provide the bearing B with the two arms shown. Then by using the support described the shaft is held perfectly rigid at right angles to the length of the boat, and the said support by its peculiar construction is in shape to be instantly removed from the boat or changed as to its position along the gunwale, whereby any number of the propelling devices may be used. This is of especial advantage on boats of great length.

To my knowledge no other support has ever been used such as I show for attaching a rowing mechanism to boats, and no device ordinarily used will accomplish the purposes described.

Vhere the link K connects with the paddle I have shown an angled pin, shaped somewhat like an S, in order to obtain an offset and a possibly easier means of getting above the pivotal point of the paddle, as viewed in Fig. 1, whereby the weight will more easily operate to throw the paddle to the dotted-lino position. However, this arrangement need not be used, and I do not wish to confine myself to it. It is to be seen that the sleeve G moves freely on its shaft, there being nothing to limit its movement other than the connections of the arm H and its link K with the paddle.

I do not wish to limit myself to the particular construction of any of the parts of my device nor the particular arrangement thereof.

I claim- 1. In a rowing mechanism a horizontal shaft journaled on the gunwale of a boat, a depen ding arm attached to such shaft outside the boat, said arm pivotally carrying a paddle which is equally balanced on its pivot, a crank on the inner end of the shaft for imparting a rocking movement to said shaft and means for automatically manipulating the paddle whereby during the backward movement said paddle will be carried in a substantially horizontal position and then opened to a position for taking a stroke in the water as set forth.

2. In a rowing mechanism ahorizontal shaft journaled on the gunwale of a boat, a crank on the inner end of the shaft for imparting a rocking movement to the shaft, a depending arm rigidly secured to the shaft, a paddle pivotally carried by the free end of said arm, the same being balanced thereon, an arm hung from said shaft adjacent to the fixed or rigid arm and arranged to swing freely thereon, the same pivoted to the paddle through a connecting-link, the point of connection with such paddle being above the pivotal point of support of such paddle, and a weight for swinging such movable arm upon the shaft whereby at the end of the stroke in the water the paddle is raised from the water to a horizontal position and sustained in that position during the backward movement for a new stroke, then at the end of such movement the paddle is thrown by weight to a position for entering the water as set forth and described.

3. In a rowing mechanism the combination of the horizontal shaft 0, the bearing B on the boat for supporting said shaft, the crank D on the inner end of the shaft for imparting a rocking movement to the shaft, an arm E secured to said shaft, a balanced paddle pivoted to such arm substantially as described, an arm H on the shaft 0 adjacent to the arm E and adapted to swing freely on said shaft, said arm H having loose connection with the paddle above the supporting-pivot of the latter, a weight J for swinging such arm H on the shaft, said arm and weight being rigidly held with reference to each other, such weight acting to operate the paddle at the beginning and the end of the stroke as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In a rowing mechanism, a shaft journaled horizontally on the gunwale of a boat at right angles to the length thereof, a crank for imparting a rocking motion to said shaft, an arm secured to said shaft, a paddle pivotally carried at the lower free end of the arm, the upper end of said paddle adapted to bear against the arm when its lower end is submerged and propelling the boat, an arm mounted on the shaft adjacent to the arm carrying the paddle, the same being free to move on the shaft in a plane at right angles to the length of the shaft, its free end connected to the paddle above its pivotal point, a weight for moving the last-mentioned arm by the force of gravity to operate the paddle, and carried in such manner that when the paddle is propelling the boat the weight will be raised by the force of the water against said paddle and when the latter has finished its stroke said weight will fall by gravity and raise the paddle to a substantially horizontal position throughout its length in which position it is sustained during the entire back movement to the position for a new stroke and when reaching the last-named position will, by gravity, lower the paddle into position for entering the water as set forth.

5. In a rowing mechanism the combination of the angled plate 0 on the gunwale of a boat, a clamping-plate P hinged thereto, the cam R pivoted on the said plate 0 for operating the plate P to clamp the side of the boat, the projections S in the plate 0 for entering the wood of the boat to aid in securing the device thereto upon which a rowing mechanism is carried for the purposes set forth.

6. In a rowing mechanism the combination of the angled plate 0 on the gunwale of a boat, a clamping-plate P hinged thereto, the cam R pivoted on the said plate 0 for operating the plate P to clamp the side of the boat, the projections S on the plate 0 for entering the wood of the boat to aid in securing the device thereto, a rowing mechanism carried on said device the same consisting of the bearing B having depending parallel arms for entering the plate 0, means for securing the bars in said plate, a shaft 0 carried in the bearing, a crank D for rocking said shaft, an arm rigidly secured to the shaft, a paddle pivoted on the free end of such arm, the same being balanced thereon, an arm H loosely mounted on the shaft adjacent to the fixed arm, a link connecting the paddle with said loose arm at its free extremity, a weight affixed to the support carrying the loose arm and adapted to operate the paddle as set forth and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL R. SHEEN,

Witnesses:

HARRY MACKLEY, A. KEITHLEY. 

